Drill pipe protector



Jan. 30, 1945. J, M, GRAN-|- DRILL PIPE PROTECTOR Filed May 14, 1941 tH/v M. GRA NT,

INVENTOR A Trae/VE y.

mented Jan.' so, 1945 UNITED.. oFF-ICE; l

Thi's"invention relates generallytb, drill? pipe protectors. usedii1..the` drilling. of l oil" Wells. and the' like. e

Various types of'protectors. have beendevelpeda for. use iirpiotectirig the Wellcasingandthe drill? pipe, the Amosty common and fsuccessful. of. which comprise'merely an annular rubber'collar.vv1fiiclif-y is stretched onto. the pipe... The ordinary, types ofprte'ctors"are designed particularly fr` use on tliefportion'ofthe drill' pipe*operatingwitliinthe part of the WellWhich has heen'cased' Although" itl'has long, "beendesirablel to" provide a. protector. for' useondrill pipesin' tli'atfp'ortion'; of the hole beyondiitlie casing toprotect both. the drill pipe andtlie walls.ofthefholethe ordinary types of" protectors are. not` suitable;frfthispurpose' be# cause' th'eyso'on 'vvear out andi because they'fte'nd far "'as'l know; there" hasbeen no" prote'ctorfpro-f. duced which is satisfactory for usein;A tli'eun# casedpartof the welll"` Asa'"result"the"'drlllpipe, has *a tendency togyratel ancr'wliipidurin'g rotai' tion thereby.- greatly increasing""`tlie" necessaryitorquerequired tooperate the'drill;Y The .'gyratingi" pipealso i'n many instancesbreak'sdwn".tlie `co1` loidal mud Wall of the welliperrnittiiigintrusion' of Water and often resultingin"c'ave=lns`ofthe well.' l A" drll" pipe of course" wears excessively Where"it^cont`act's"thewailsofitlie' We1l".`" T`r'ediice" this- Wear `on thepipe"operatorshave^'event'gone' sofa'r as"to"increasethe diameter of thel'louldlev ended* pin usedl `iii-toolL joints" wliere the'- pipei'is" provided with a box-atieach'fenolso-thatfthe'louter surface' of the"A pin willfeit'enid loeyond"'the remainder-- offthef pipeandbearfagainst the zs-idesfoilthe'lloletbefreany other-part of:r the L'pi-pe." Thi f practice is noti successful 'fori' the freafsonfitlivit tlieef'` metal-pin soonwea-rss; s y

Itiisnthereforeva primary-'object of thisk inverivA tionto'provide lmeans dorvstabilizingztheidieill;pipe in= the: uncasedarpart ofi theriwellfawhichwill. serve? as a @meanss forprotectingabothithe npipe'f and'zftheff mud l. wall of l thee. welle` In=this connectiomiti isna F2 particular; object to nrovidewaf1 protector mea-ns@t particularly designed to.h resistabrasioni-andsto4 permit.. free turning of.: the piper without having any portion of'thepipeor. protector invrotative contactf with the Wallof'tlie Well. It isalsoan objectto provideprotector'rneans' fr the Dipje Which-Will reduce thetor'quenecessary'ir r'ota't'- 'L ing kthepipeirrthe'vve'lL`v elastic .protectorslon pipe.

These andother objects willlbe apparent from. thedrawinga'ndthe following.'descriptionthereof.A

Referring; tothe drawing'which-is for illustra- Wellsliowing" at drill.l pipeY with 1a protector. means f embodying'. theV invention mountedl thereom. y Y

Fit-.f 24" i'sC a sectionalE elevation. ofL a protector. means embodying` the' inventionI before the same. has-*heen mounted-1on1 a' drill pipe; S

Figi-13 is' a. sectional elevation' ofthe device of. FigL'Z "shown: mounted. on ag drill `pipe;.`

Fi? 4i'satsectiona1'elevation offa modiedforml of th'envention" shown on a. pipe; and

"Fig. 15";is anlelevationlofanotherform of pro-1 tect'or m'eans ki'roke'rlaway 'to .show parts'. thereof. infse'ctionz l l More particularly describing the invention; ref.;`

erence numeral. I l .generally indicates the uncased 'part*jofa"we1lb'eingl'drilled The Wall of the.'

Well" ho'lis shown' lined with .a` layer of colloidal mud"l l "..s`uolias`jis `builiup upon the sides ofthe.' hole" through-the. .circulation of a suitable inudV during' tli'ediilling process. The purpose of this.

"wall" or" cakej' is; to seal" 01T the 4various strata pierced*byt`he liolefandtherebyprevent'water intrusion and'possible" cave-ins.Y Maintenance. of;

tlii's'uiall isithereforeimportant as is Wellrecognized'i" Sspen'd'edn' theportion of. the Well hole theipipe: Thisprotector means', generally indicat'edby-referencenumeralA l 5, is' shown engaging one side of the hole holding the pipe inspaced relation tl'ieretof thereby-preventing. any,v possi-5 bilityofSeitherthepipeor"the Wall becoming-Worn. orforolien'respectively?.

'for'. a more detailed description of theltprotector 'means I5f, such'- A meanscornprisesa spool. I6 formed oftal resilient 'and""elastic" material preferably rubber..

nulr "section" I 1. which.. terminates: at each end in" the: angesifl 8.' 'l'lieseL4 portions of.v the spool f cooperatetofform anM annular. collan receiving groove or depression' 2U.n Loosely mountedi-siirprotector meansern'b'oazls'fingm afresilinf'memerti rounding the spool and within the groove or depression is a resilient annular protector member 2| which is also preferably formed of rubber.

In this connection it may be pointed out that it may be desirable to make the parts of some other material than rubber provided the material has the necessary resilient characteristics to permit the mounting of the spool on the pipe and to insure long life of the parts under the adverse conditions in which they are used.

y It is contemplated that the spool be made with a'bore considerably smaller than the. outer diameter of the pipe to whichit'is to be applied so that it is necessary to radially expand the spool in order to mount it on the pipe and that l when so mounted the material of thefspool' will be under tension and Will thereby iirmly grip the pipe forming an anchor of fixed `support on the pipe for the collar. In this connection the spool is adapted for installation by several of the spool is shown on the pipe, With Fig. 2 Where` the spool is unexpanded. After the spool has been stretched onto the pipe the protector collar itself is made suiliciently thick so that it Will project radially beyond ther tool joint of the pipe and when used on the pipe in the Well as shown in Fig. l it will Contact the wall of the well and hold the remainder of the pipe in spaced relation therefrom. v In this connection the collar should be oi less overall diameter than the diameter of the hole being drilled in order that the ordi' nary circulation of the rotary drilling fluid may tak'e place upwardly in the Well exteriorly of the drill pipe.

By referring to Fig. 1 it will be apparent that when the .protectorcollar 2| contacts the wall of the Well that it IWill remain stationary and permit the rotation of the pipe and spool therein. In consequence of this there is little if any tendency for the protector collar, Which is the only part of the drill pipe engaging the sides of the hole, to dig into the mud lining of the Well and damage it. Since both the spool `|6 and protector collar 2| are formed of a resilient material such as rubber, very little wear takes place between the engaging surfaces of these members which are lubricated by the liquid of the ilowing mud stream. The resilient nature of `the parts of the protector means enables them to resist abrasion from contact with the Walls of the well and the solids contained in the flowing mud stream.

In Fig. 4 there is shown another form of `the invention in which the protector means here indicated as |5a comprises an elongate relatively thin inner sleeve 23 which is mounted on the pipe in stretched condition to firmly engage the same.

A protector collar 2|, such as heretofore described is loosely mounted on the sleeve 23. The protector collar is held in place by means of a pair of annular elastic rings 24 which are expanded on to the member 23 and being in tension Will rmly engage the sleeve 23. This protector means operates in the same ymanner as' that heretofore described. 4

vattains In Fig. 5 there is shown a somewhat modied form of the invention wherein an inner metal spool 25 consisting of two half sections 26 and 26' are secured about the pipe l2 by means of the bolts 21 cooperating with lugs 28. The metal spool 25 is provided with a rubber insert sleeve 29 adapted to form a bearing surface for a protector collar 2| loosely mounted thereabout. This form of the invention also operates in the same general manner as the protector means of Figs. 2'andv3`. i

In the description it has been suggested that the protector means should preferably be formed of rubber. In this connection it is contemplated that the rubber used for this purpose should be relatively solid and iirm although being both expansible 'and resilient such as the rubber utilized in vthe present day annular drill pipe protectors.

lAlthough this invention is primarily designed for use in combination with that part of the drill pipe extending beyond the cased part of the hole and operating in the formation it may, also be desirable to employ the protector means of this invention on that portion of the pipe Within the Well casing Where the dimensions of the parts are such as to allow for the flow of mud past the protector means.

As is Well known in the art it is necessary and customary to drill ahead of the part of the well which has been'lined with casing and it has been customary to provide drill pipe and casing protectorsconsisting of a single annular fixed collar of rubber on that portion of the drill pipe operating'within the casing. As a part` of Athis 'invention it is contemplated to use the combina-r tion of the ordinary xed rubber protectors on that portion of a drill pipe operating Within the well casing and to use a rotatable type protector means such as described herein on the portion of the pipe operating in the formation below the Well casing.

Although the invention has been particularly shown and described it is contemplated that various modications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention and it is intended to cover such changes as come within the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A drill pipe protector lcomprising a spool formed of resilient material adapted to be mounted in expanded condition on the pipe, and a resilient collar of suiiicient size to be loosely rotatable on said spool after the spool has been expanded and mounted on a pipe.

2. A drill pipe protector comprising a rubber spool having a smaller bore than the outer diameter of the pipe to Which it isto be applied, said spool having a relatively thin annular Wall portion terminating at each end in an. external flange, and a rubber collar loosely mounted around the relatively thin annular Wall portion of the spool and adapted t0 be retained thereon by said flanges, said collar having a bore of suf- "c cient diameter 'to lpermit the collar to remain loose upon' said' spool after the spool has been' expanded on to a drill pipe.

3. In combination; a drill pipe4 having tool joint sections projecting radially beyond the main sections ofthe pipe, a rubber spool radially expanded and under tension mounted on the pipe between the tool joint sections thereof, and a rubber collar loosely mounted on said spool for relativerotative movement, said collar projecting i 4.' In combination, a drill pipe, a relatively thin 2,368,415, -radially beyondv the tOl joint sections of` said pipe.

walled resilient sleeve. radially expanded and;

under, tension on saidvpipe, a relatively thicker Walled resilient collar,free ly positioned on said sleeve, said collar being shorter than said sleeve,

and a pair of resilient -retaining rings` mounted on said sleeve under tension on Iopposite sides of said collar.

5. In combination a drill pipe, means adapted to be mounted on the pipe to form a spool, a resilient collar loosely mounted on said spool, said spool having resilient surfaces Where it is jengageable with the collar.

6. In combination a drill pipe, a split metal spool having means for securely attaching the spool to a drill pipe, a relatively thin walled rubber sleever surrounding said spool, and a rubber collar surrounding said sleeve and freely rotatable thereon.`

'7. In a drill pipe protector, the -combinationof:

thereof providing a median neck on said body of an outside diameter smaller than that of said flanges; and a second hollow cylindrical body of rubber or like material having an inside diameter smaller than the outside diameter of said anges and an outside diameter at least equal to that of said flanges and rotatably andy concentrically mounted on said neck. f

8. In a vdrill pipe protector, the combination of a rst one-piece hollow cylindrical body of rubber or like vresiliently compressible material adapted a rst hollow cylindrical one-piece body adapted` to be immovably secured upon a'drill pipe in concentric relationship thereto; an annular flange integrally formed on said body at each -end JOHN M. GRANT. 

